Courtesy of Judith Gregg Librarian Catherine Arbogast heads out with a personalized book delivery from the Los Altos main library.

Love of learning and curiosity about the world sometimes grow only more urgent as a person spends more and more time at home, limited by age, health condition, or both. Librarians head out from the Los Altos main l...

Already known as an innovator in the tech field, Google Inc. is now moving in on the art world.

The Mountain View-based company July 11 launched the “Paint the Town” contest, a “moving art experiment” that invites California residents over the age of 13 to submit physical or digital artwork that would decorate the door...

Traci Newell/Town Crier The six-week, tuition-free Stretch to Kindergarten program, hosted at Bullis Charter School, serves children who have not attended preschool. A teacher leads children in singing about the parts of a butterfly, above.

courtesy of Rishi Bommannan Rishi Bommannan cycled from Bates College in Maine to his home in Los Altos Hills, taking several selfies along the way. He also raised nearly $13,000 for the Livestrong Foundation, which supports cancer patients.

The Town Crier’s recent article on coyotes venturing down from the foothills in search of sustenance referenced the organization Project Coyote (“Recent coyote attacks keep residents on edge,” July 1). Do not waste your time contac...

Photos by Alicia Castro/Town Crier Local residents participate in an exercise class at the Grant Park Senior Center, above. Betsy Reeves, below left with Gail Enenstein, lobbied for senior programming in south Los Altos.

Grace Wilson Franks, our beloved mother and grandmother, left us peacefully on July 16, 2015 just a few weeks short of her 92nd birthday. She was born to Ross and Florence (Cruzan) Wilson in rural Tulare, California on Septem...

Most of us have a place inside our hearts and minds that occasionally causes us trouble. For some, it is sadness, depression or despair. For others, it may be fear, anger, resentment or myriad other emotional “dark places” that at times seem to hij...

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation has achieved the goal of operating its headquarters building at net zero energy by generating more than enough electricity to meet its needs during the first full year of occupancy.

The 49,000-square-foot building at 343 Second St. in Los Altos is the largest building to date to receive Net Zero Energy Building Certification through the International Living Future Institute. It is one of few buildings worldwide to carry both that designation and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum certification.

Foundation officials showed off the new building to the public during an open house Thursday.

“We’re just so pleased it worked out as well as it did,” said Susan Packard Orr, chairwoman of the foundation board.

Carol Larson, foundation president and CEO, added that the foundation “managed to make a sustainable building that (also) turned out to be a beautiful building.”

The architects and builders achieved the goal of generating enough electricity to serve the foundation’s needs with solar panels that should pay for themselves within 10 years.

“When the foundation was designing the building, we made a conscious effort to live the values we support. The building is a physical manifestation of our long-term commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” Larson said in a statement. “Our hope is that the building will serve as an inspiration to other organizations, businesses and individuals.”

Materials used for the interior finishes are low in volatile organic compounds emissions, and the ventilation system uses 100 percent outside air.

The building, which houses 110 employees, was designed to reduce water consumption by 40 percent by capturing and reusing rainwater for irrigation and toilet flushing. The landscaping includes 90 percent California native plants to eliminate pesticide use.

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